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Europe flag on the triumphal arch
Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
A European flag that briefly flew on the triumphal arch in Paris sparked a dispute between the French government and the opposition.
After allegations by right-wing politicians that the blue flag was offensive to the fatherland, the flag was dropped on Sunday night.
According to a spokesman for the Elysée Palace, this schedule was planned anyway: The aim was to symbolically mark the beginning of the French EU Council Presidency on December 31 and January 1.
The right-wing extremist presidential candidate of the Rassemblement National (RN), Marine Le Pen, on the other hand, recorded the raising of the European flag on Twitter as a "beautiful patriotic victory" after a "massive mobilization" of her camp.
She had previously expressed sharp criticism of the gesture.
"Replacing the French flag with the European one is an assassination attempt on the identity of our fatherland, an insult to those who died for the fatherland," she said on Twitter.
The right wing presidential candidate Éric Zemmour also spoke of an "insult".
The conservative Republican candidate, Valérie Pécresse, demanded that the tricolor should hang next to the European flag.
"We owe that to all our fighters who shed their blood for them."
The government's Secretary of State for Europe was combative on Sunday.
He was proud that the flag was now hanging on the triumphal arch, he wrote on Twitter.
"Do not worry, as planned there will be European blue all over France in the coming days, which will make our cities and our monuments shine." At the moment, important monuments in France - such as the Eiffel Tower - are illuminated in blue in the evenings.
At the turn of the year, France took over the rotation of the Council of Ministers in the European Union.
At the same time, the country is in the election campaign, as the presidential election is due in April.
cbu / dpa